i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

[RoyalChick]

i cut that treat bar that louise was obsessed with in half and put both pieces in the run far away from each other to give them something to do while i go out today. is that a bad idea? do you think louise will try to keep thelma away from both?

also! i was wondering if anyone has ever given their chicken a stuffed animal friend, and is it helpful? i was thinking thelma might like that when louise is being prickly. or laying an egg. she seems to use the fake egg as security at night. when it's not in there, she climbs all over louise instead. and louise is not warm and fuzzy.
just a thunk i was having

Or another chicken (or two) ….
Just saying!

 

[pollipazzi]

Or another chicken (or two) ….
Just saying!

i'm still thinking about this because i don't think i am doing a good job

editing to say: amongst other concerns!

 

[RoyalChick]

i'm still thinking about this because i don't think i am doing a good job

editing to say: amongst other concerns!

Oh no, no, no! You are doing a GREAT job. Seriously.
And my reason for pushing you is just based on practicality. Looking after 4-5 is not more work than 2 (I found more than 6 was the point at which it felt like more). I found less squabbling with a few more. It is like everyone can find a friend somewhere.
Also, just realistically, chickens die. Often for no apparent reason. And a solo chicken is not a happy chicken.
Also you have such a lovely set-up I feel like they could share the dream!

 

[pollipazzi]

Oh no, no, no! You are doing a GREAT job. Seriously.
And my reason for pushing you is just based on practicality. Looking after 4-5 is not more work than 2 (I found more than 6 was the point at which it felt like more). I found less squabbling with a few more. It is like everyone can find a friend somewhere.
Also, just realistically, chickens die. Often for no apparent reason. And a solo chicken is not a happy chicken.
Also you have such a lovely set-up I feel like they could share the dream!

thank you so much for that.
i, personally, am not doing a good job. i am not a structured person, and i am struggling with keeping up with anything else i need to do. i am overwhelmed by those things.
i have very low frustration tolerance too. lol!
the husband would like me to go places and i have been refusing because i don't want to be leaving them in the run for too long.
most of those things are me causing my own problems. not surprising.
but.
i think my set up is too small for more.
i think they (at least louise) has very bad ideas and i don't need her rubbing off on any more and having another one like her.
what if they don't accept new ones? louise probably wouldn't. i read about people having separate flocks because they couldn't integrate them. i have zero experience integrating. and isolating? where?
and if by chance it did work out and keep adding, it never ends. i will never not have chickens.

 

[BDutch]

My 4 oldest girls have their own coop but refuse to have anything to do with my main flock.They free range in our yard and have never flown out.They give me no drama but they hate my other flock lol

Im a bit behind (no alert), but like to respond bc separated sleeping arrangements are not discussed often. Mine are not really separated and share the run space /free range space but prefer to split up at night.

I have 4 older hens who sleep in an extension of an old prefab. There is room enough in there for 8 bantams and in the past my whole flock slept in there with 8 or 9 bantams.

The prefab is too small for a larger group or bigger girls. One pullet (Janice) was chased away from the extension at roost time when she was young and she usually slept in this tiny coop for several years.

Young pullets (older chicks) are not allowed to sleep in the extension anymore. It took me a few years to realise I needed a third coop to accommodate all chickens happily. After the last hatch I added a playhouse (adjusted). And the mama started to sleep there with her big chicks when they outgrew the prefab coop. It accommodates the mama (Ini mini) , 2 young oversized bantam hens (Gin & Tonic) and Janice.

At the moment the small prefab is abandoned. Ready for another hatch according to a few hens (broodies). But unfortunately for them is 8 chickens really enough imho .

 

[RoyalChick]

thank you so much for that.
i, personally, am not doing a good job. i am not a structured person, and i am struggling with keeping up with anything else i need to do. i am overwhelmed by those things.
i have very low frustration tolerance too. lol!
the husband would like me to go places and i have been refusing because i don't want to be leaving them in the run for too long.
most of those things are me causing my own problems. not surprising.
but.
i think my set up is too small for more.
i think they (at least louise) has very bad ideas and i don't need her rubbing off on any more and having another one like her.
what if they don't accept new ones? louise probably wouldn't. i read about people having separate flocks because they couldn't integrate them. i have zero experience integrating. and isolating? where?
and if by chance it did work out and keep adding, it never ends. i will never not have chickens.

 

[BDutch]

mine are weird and don't poop in the coop. it's the only thing they do that makes it easier for me

Mine do poop from the roost ( poop tray/roost area) but they don’t poop on the coop floor either.

she did not do that when she was broody. she wanted back in the same spot.

Yes but they can choose another spot after being disturbed. In search for a quieter spot to brood.

so i gave her her fake egg back.
maybe she really needs to lay an egg.

If she needs to lay an egg she lays an egg on a spot she thinks is best at that moment. Some days after getting broody she stops laying extra eggs.

One of my hens starts to draw my attention if her favourite nestbox is blocked. Most hens don’t get annoyed so much. A large nestbox in the run is second best. A poop tray with bedding is third choice.

A hen has no choice in laying or not laying. It’s not something chickens can choose, unlike humans who can take a pill to stop fertility (eggs ripening). Chicken egg laying is a different cycle (24-48 hours) , while the female cycle is approx 4 weeks /a month. I believe broodiness is a bit like pregnancy including a change of mindset.

Chickens originally didn’t lay eggs for humans. In natural circumstances birds / chickens only lay eggs for offspring. They gather a pile of eggs and get broody after a short laying period. And 4-10 weeks after hatching a number of chicks, the egg laying cycle. starts all over again. Except during fall/winter.

 

[McChooky]

Im a bit behind (no alert), but like to respond bc separated sleeping arrangements are not discussed often. Mine are not really separated and share the run space /free range space but prefer to split up at night.

I have 4 older hens who sleep in an extension of an old prefab. There is room enough in there for 8 bantams and in the past my whole flock slept in there with 8 or 9 bantams.

The prefab is too small for a larger group or bigger girls. One pullet (Janice) was chased away from the extension at roost time when she was young and she usually slept in this tiny coop for several years.

Young pullets (older chicks) are not allowed to sleep in the extension anymore. It took me a few years to realise I needed a third coop to accommodate all chickens happily. After the last hatch I added a playhouse (adjusted). And the mama started to sleep there with her big chicks when they outgrew the prefab coop. It accommodates the mama (Ini mini) , 2 young oversized bantam hens (Gin & Tonic) and Janice.

At the moment the small prefab is abandoned. Ready for another hatch according to a few hens (broodies). But unfortunately for them is 8 chickens really enough imho

My 4 x 6 coop and run ( 4 chickens)is connected to a 8 x 16 coop They're only separated by a door( 8 hens and a rooster)Every time my chickens piss me off I threaten to give their coop to the cats

 

[pollipazzi]

i don't know how to do a hug back but